Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 89: New Life

They all said that those who were pitiful always had some insufferable sides. For Wu Ao, this sentence was very suitable.

In mid-air, the two had entered the peak of the fight. In the end, Lin Bianyu had the more superior skills. One swing from Tian Xiao, which was in his hands, and Mo Changshan’s sword broke in half. Since the sword in the swordsman’s hand had been broken, the victory was naturally decided, and the sharp blade of Tian Xiao fell on top of Mo Changshan’s neck. The two men looked at each other and the atmosphere seemed to be frozen stiffed.

Lin Bianyu stared at the person opposite him and his eyes were full of disbelief. He had obviously recognized that this person was his teenage rival, Mo Changshan. However, Mo Changshan had died that year and now that he had suddenly reappeared, he was naturally amazed.

The Kunlun Sect, being ordered to guard the Grand Formation, was a top-secret matter. Now that the Sect Master was in seclusion, this matter naturally fell on Lin Bianyu’s head. This night, when Lin Bianyu heard the sound and arrived at the scene, he noticed that the stone door wide open. He hurriedly entered and actually saw his most beloved brother, Lin Rufei, lying silently amidst a blood-red formation and was next to someone who was whispering incantations. When Lin Bianyu happened upon this scene, he was very alarmed and immediately drew his sword and headed over. However, halfway there, a black-clad swordsman appeared, forcibly trying to stop him.

The two of them fought for a time and it was difficult to distinguish who had the upper hand. At first, Lin Bianyu just thought that this swordsman had some minor familiarity, but soon, he realized that not only was he familiar, but this black-clothed swordsman was emitting a strong aura of death. It was actually his friend Mo Changshan, whom he had met when he was younger!

Back then, Mo Changshan was as gifted as he was in swordsmanship and was known as the twin stars on the western mountains. With two stars, one being Jade(Yu) and the other being Mountain(Shan). That year, Mo Changshan was very aspirational and vigorous, but unfortunately, the Mo family suffered a great disaster later on and Mo Changshan’s life was taken by an unknown swordsman. At that time, this incident was a very big deal that even Lin Bianyu also knew a thing or two about it. But even though the Mo family spent a lot of effort to offer a reward, they still failed to catch the killer.

As one of the twin stars, although he and Mo Changshan did not have a deep friendship, this matter also made him sigh with regret. He pondered that if Mo Changshan did not die, he would now have another opponent to duel with. However, he never expected that after decades, he would see the living Mo Changshan here. 

Then why did the dead Mo Changshan appear here? Lin Bianyu called out his name: “Mo Changshan?”

Mo Changshan was restrained by Lin Bianyu, but he did not show any fear. His face remained expressionless, like a stiff stone. His black eyes were sunken, and he could not see a single spirit. It was as if he was just a puppet acting on instinct.

Lin Bianyu frowned slightly. He soon realized something and turned his head to look at Wu Ao, who had been standing aside. He noticed that Lin Rufei had woken up at some point, came out of the cave, and was saying something with Wu Ao. He was very excited, hissing fiercely at Lin Rufei and trying to reach out and grab him, the situation looked very dangerous.

Lin Bianyu gazed at them. With no more hesitation, he turned back and flew towards Wu Ao. 

“Why on earth did I fall to this point?!!” Wu Ao roared, his crimson eyes filled with anger and despair as he shouted at Lin Rufei. However, the words he said seemed to be actually for his own ears, “I just wanted to stay with him all the time, why……why can’t I even do this?!!!”

The harsh sword intent came from mid-air, but Wu Ao, as if he was oblivious to it, allowed Lin Bianyu’s sword to stab him in the vitals.

“Wuuu……” He let out a sad cry. Wu Ao slightly lowered his head and took in the cold snow-white sword blade passing through his abdomen. Tears fell from his eyes but it was not because he was injured. It was because Lin Rufei was looking at him with those incomparable sad eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Lin Rufei said bitterly, “Wu Ao……”

Wu Ao pulled out a bitter smile as he muttered in a trembling voice, “Heavenly Ruler, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Lin Bianyu did not know what exactly had happened between Wu Ao and Lin Rufei. But because he saw the formation and the unconscious Lin Rufei, he rightfully felt that the person in front of him was going to be detrimental to his brother, so in the end, he did not hold back in the slightest. It was only the man’s attitude of not hiding or dodging that made Lin Bianyu feel a little puzzled. He also could not see Wu Ao’s cultivation level and thought he was a powerful character. But why did he not hide or dodge, and instead took his sword straight on? As Lin Bianyu was pondering over this phenomenon, he then heard Wu Ao bawling like an aggrieved child. He slowly kneeled onto the ground as the blood and tears wet the black mud beneath him.

Lin Rufei looked at him in silence and only rich sorrow remained in his gaze. However, he did not talk to Wu Ao. Instead, he turned around and walked slowly towards the formation.

Lin Bianyu wanted to call out to him, but for some reason, the words that came to his lips were forcefully swallowed back down. Blood was still dripping from Tian Xiao’s blade and when Lin Bianyu looked at the man bawling in front of him, he felt that it all seemed so absurd.

Lin Rufei walked back into the formation and saw Gu Xuandu sleeping in the stone coffin.

This was the first time Lin Rufei saw Gu Xuandu sleeping. He closed his narrow eyes and his features were not quite as beautiful as when he was awake, instead, it carried a few tones of innocence. Lin Rufei slowly stretched out his fingers and his fingertips touched his forehead down along the bridge of his nose and slowly to his chin. He hung his head quietly. In the end, he could not hold back and a tear plopped right on top of Gu Xuandu’s cheek.

It all happened so suddenly that he was powerless to stop it. Only after he was forced to accept the memory and barely regained himself did he realize what it really meant when Gu Xuandu had entered the stone coffin.

Although they had established a relationship, they were never really together. Lin Rufei naively thought that they still had many, many more years, but he did not know that the accident had come earlier than tomorrow.

A hundred years of memory, whether it was the Heavenly Ruler or Da Han, could not be separated from the person in front of him. Every moment of his life seemed to be occupied by the person in front of him and now seeing his sleeping appearance, it was as if someone had choked him hard on the neck.

“Xiao Jiu?” A hesitant call came from behind him. In the end, Lin Bianyu was uneasy and followed him in.

Lin Rufei was silent.

“Xiao Jiu, what’s wrong?” Lin Bianyu was so worried that he walked over to Lin Rufei’s side and noticed the person in the stone coffin.

Lin Rufei shook his head and forced a smile: “I……am fine. Brother, can I trouble you to go out and watch Wu Ao?”

Lin Bianyu asked, “That person outside is called Wu Ao?”

Lin Rufei nodded his head.

Lin Bianyu said, “Okay, I’ll go now.” But he was still a bit uneasy, “Who is this person? Is he a friend of yours? Are you……okay?”

Lin Rufei forced another smile, “I’m fine.”

But looking at his tired appearance, he didn’t look like he was fine. Lin Bianyu was very anxious, however, he didn’t know exactly what to say. In the end, he could only whisper to him not to be afraid and if Lin Rufei had something to say, he should tell him and then he(LBY) would certainly solve it. However, Lin Rufei just shook his head and did not say anything until Lin Bianyu showed a helpless look, turned around, and walked outside.

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“Wait.” Lin Rufei suddenly called out.

Lin Bianyu was surprised and turned around, thinking that Lin Rufei had figured it out and was willing to talk about it. But who knew that Lin Rufei was simply telling Lin Bianyu to help Wu Ao treat his wounds and to not let him die.

Lin Bianyu frowned: “But, Xiao Jiu, he is not a good person.”

Lin Rufei smiled bitterly, “I know.”

Lin Bianyu pursed his lips. When he noticed Lin Rufei’s difficult expression, he also stopped asking. He also didn’t know why, but when he said that Wu Ao wasn’t a good person, Lin Rufei’s face surfaced with some shame. It was almost as if Wu Ao was actually taught by him. But by the time Lin Bianyu went outside, he(WA) had already disappeared, leaving behind only a bloodstain and Mo Changshan, who was standing there in silence.

When he saw Mo Changshan, he was still a little defensive, but when he noticed that Mo Changshan had no intention of drawing his sword, he walked up to him and asked, “You are Mo Changshan, right? Why are you here? What did that man do to you?”

Mo Changshan simply looked at Lin Bianyu and did not answer.

Lin Bianyu questioned, “Are you okay?” He tentatively reached out and patted Mo Changshan on the shoulder, however, Mo Changshan still did not respond. And if he had not blinked occasionally, probably no one would have taken him for a living person. Lin Bianyu knew in his heart that Mo Changshan’s appearance was definitely related to the man called Wu Ao. He could have chased after the blood trail, but in the end, he couldn’t let Lin Rufei be alone inside, so he simply found a place and began to sit down and wait.

Lin Rufei slowly dried his tears and took a deep breath. If he did not have the memory of the Heavenly Ruler, he probably would be helpless in the face of a crisis as he stared at Gu Xuandu lying in front of him. Luckily, in the Heavenly Ruler’s memory, there was also a method of unravelling, but this unravelling method also came with after-effects.

Lin Rufei now had very little sword intent left in his body and he didn’t know if he could successfully set up a spell formation to protect Gu Xuandu’s soul.

While thinking, he cut a slit on his hand, lowered his head, and began to use blood to set up the formation. A normal formation could be done with cinnabar, but this one was too powerful and could only be triggered by blood.

However, Lin Rufei was busy thinking about other things and did not feel the wound on his hand. His body did feel a little cold though and he did not know that his already bloodless face had become pale white.

This formation was somewhat complicated, but Lin Rufei did not dare to stop, because once Gu Xuandu entered the stone coffin, his soul would leave the body. If it was not retrieved early, he was afraid that it would dissipate very quickly. Lin Rufei lowered his head and filled every corner of the formation little by little and when the painting was completely finished, his hands were already covered with dense wounds.

“Cough cough cough.” Coughing lowly a few times, Lin Rufei braced himself for discomfort and struggled to finish the last stroke. Finally, he pulled out Gu Yu on the side of his waist with force and inserted it into the center of the formation. This was precisely the method that Gu Xuandu had used to recall him into the sword. He just didn’t know if it would work when used on Gu Xuandu’s body.

Lin Rufei was apprehensive, but still gritted his teeth and drove his sword intent to fill the entire formation. The formation began to emit a faint light and the light gradually gathered on top of Gu Yu. Soon, Gu Yu started humming, as if in response.

However, other than that, there was no other reaction. The few remaining sword intent in Lin Rufei’s body was about to be exhausted. His expectant gaze gradually dulled and a bitter smile of despair surfaced on his lips. But at that moment, an insignificant glowing flame slowly rose from the stone coffin, although insignificant, it still made Lin Rufei’s eyes bright. 

The small glowing flame slowly rose, attracted by the formation, and finally fell on top of Gu Yu’s sword scabbard. Just as the two touched, there was a crisp sound, and then the formation dulled. Lin Rufei also fell to the ground, as if he had lost all his strength and started coughing uncontrollably, like he wanted to cough out his lungs.

Lin Bianyu, who had been standing guard outside, arrived when he heard this familiar sound and noticed the wretched Lin Rufei. After noticing the wound on Lin Rufei’s hand, panic surfaced in his eyes: “Xiao Jiu——”

Lin Rufei’s shoulders trembled as he pointed to the sword blade. 

Lin Bianyu asked, “You want that sword?” He took a few steps and helped Lin Rufei pull out the sword blade, then carefully brought it to Lin Rufei’s hand, “Is this it?”

Lin Rufei reluctantly smiled. He took Gu Yu from Lin Bianyu’s hand, carefully put it into the scabbard, and hugged it tightly against his arms.

Mo Changshan, who had been waiting outside the door, also walked in, and when Lin Bianyu saw him, he showed a wary look. However, Mo Changshan did not even look at them, instead, he went to another person still lying on the ground. It was the Heavenly Ruler’s body. Mo Changshan bent down and seemed to want to pick up the Heavenly Ruler’s body, but who knew that just as his hand touched the skin of the Heavenly Ruler’s flesh, the skin dissipated in his hand like annihilated powder, turning into fine dust.

Mo Changshan did not seem to expect this at all and froze in place.

Lin Rufei smiled bitterly and with his last strength, he whispered: “A hundred years have passed since the formation was laid, once you take the Heavenly Ruler’s body out of the formation, naturally it will decay…..” 

Mo Changshan paused before saying arduously, “Why didn’t, you say so?”

Hearing this tone, it was somewhat like he was relaying Wu Ao’s words.

Lin Rufei sighed, “Before I recovered my memory, I also didn’t know. I just didn’t understand why Xuandu didn’t say anything either.”

Mo Changshan’s face remained expressionless, but his voice trembled a bit: “You’re right. Even if he did say something, I would not, have believed.”  

Mo Changshan turned around and left.

But Lin Rufei shouted at him: “Wait.”

Mo Changshan paused.

“Can you stop manipulating Mo Changshan?” Lin Rufei’s tone was a little bitter, “Wu Ao, I know you feel bad. What happened back then, it’s true that I was wrong for hiding it from you, but this Mo Changshan is innocent, he……was a great swordsman back then and shouldn’t be reduced to such a state.”

A long silence began and just when Lin Rufei thought Wu Ao would not agree, Mo Changshan answered in a low voice: “Okay.”

Then he walked out and never looked back again.

Lin Rufei had lost too much blood and was holding on to his last breath. After sending Mo Changshan away, he fell directly into Lin Bianyu’s arms unconsciously. But even so, he still used his wounded hands to hold Gu Yu tightly, as if holding on to his own life.

Lin Bianyu did not understand what had happened from the start to the end, but after seeing the curtain finally fall over the matter, he exhaled a breath and carefully carried Lin Rufei back.

Lin Rufei also didn’t know how long he had been unconscious for but when he woke up once again, the outside world seemed to have undergone a deep change. Between his daze, it was just possible for him to see the outside through the window. The flowers and trees in the courtyard had withered and fallen out of their leaves, and so had the slender cherry blossom tree, standing alone in the corner, looking pitiful.

After Lin Rufei sat up from the bed with difficulty, his first action was to raise his eyes and look around. Soon, he found what he was looking for beside the bed.

Gu Yu was lying quietly by the side. Lin Rufei reached out and took it into his hand, gently fondling it for a moment, before a smile appeared on his lips.

The person outside seemed to have heard Lin Rufei’s movement and pushed the door open to see him awake. Immediately, they called out in surprise: “Young master!”

Lin Rufei looked up and said, “Fu Hua?”

Fu Hua said with surprise, “Young master, you are finally awake!!!” She also looked a bit haggard, probably because she had been constantly worrying about Lin Rufei. 

“How long have I been sleeping?” Lin Rufei asked.

“It’s been a few dozens of days.” Speaking of this matter, Fu Hua couldn’t control her tears, “Physician Wan Yao said that you had lost too much blood and injured your core. With so much blood, no one knew how long it was going to take for you to replenish it.” 

Lin Rufei laughed: “Alright, alright, no more crying, I’m awake now, aren’t I?”

Fu Hua continued to bawl for a while before she calmed down and asked Lin Rufei if he wanted to eat something.

Only then did Lin Rufei realize he was hungry and asked to have a bowl of congee[1].

Fu Hua turned around and went out, bringing back light porridge and small side dishes over to Lin Rufei. She also said she had informed second young master and that after they heard the news, they were immediately making their way over. 

Lin Rufei smiled and nodded. He slowly got up and did a simple wash-up before drinking the congee. After lying in bed for dozens of days, his body had become somewhat nimble and the cuts on his right hand had all been carefully bandaged, so Lin Rufei took a spoon with his left hand and awkwardly scooped up the congee, and sent it into his mouth. The taste of the congee was very light, but it was just right.

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Lin Bianyu and the others came over quickly, together with Lin Weirui and Lin Minzhi. As the three of them entered into the room, Lin Weirui was the first to rush over to Lin Rufei’s side, bawling and hugging him. Her tears were smeared all over her face as she cried out, ‘Xiao Jiu you scared sister to death, you bad boy with no conscience, how can you not discuss anything with us? If Lin Bianyu was just slightly late, wouldn’t we all have to witness your deathbed?’ 

Lin Rufei was breathless from Lin Weirui’s hug, but in the end, he was still weak and also did not dare to resist, simply allowing Lin Weirui to grumble about her complaints.

Lin Minzhi let Lin Weirui cry for a while before he reached out and pulled her away. Frowning, he said, “Okay, Xiao Jiu just woke up, don’t scare him.”

“I’m just worried.” Lin Weirui’s nose was red as she bit her lip, “The child has grown up and he has his own ideas now. Whatever is on his mind, he’s not willing to tell us anymore.”

Lin Rufei smiled bitterly: “Sister, I am already twenty-something years old……”

“Even if you’re twenty-something years old, you’re still my little brother!” Lin Weirui grunted, “Look at you, your hand was so badly injured and you were the one that actually did it yourself! You, ah!”

Lin Rufei was at a disadvantage, so he lowered his head and kept quiet. 

Lin Bianyu sighed and asked Lin Weirui to stop talking. He then sat down next to Lin Rufei and asked him in a warm voice if he was still uncomfortable.

Lin Rufei shook his head and said he was not uncomfortable, just felt a little weak.

“Too much blood loss and you’ve injured your vitality.” Lin Bianyu sighed, “Wan Yao said you can only slowly recuperate.”

Lin Rufei said, “Understandable.”

Lin Bianyu wanted to say something but then stopped himself. Most likely he had wanted to ask Lin Rufei about that day. However, Lin Rufei was in a difficult position; he didn’t know how to explain to them. It wasn’t like he could say that he had the Heavenly Ruler’s memory, right? And that he also saw his own disciples fighting among themselves. 

Lin Rufei could only pretend to be invisible under his gaze. Lin Bianyu probably understood Lin Rufei’s mood, so in the end, he did not ask about the matter at all.

The three of them talked to Lin Rufei for a while and when they noticed that he was a bit tired again, they decided to let him rest and got up to leave.

Lin Rufei drank the porridge and headed back to sleep for a while. After sleeping, he got up from the bed and carried Gu Yu to the courtyard to take a look at the poor cherry blossom tree.

The cherry blossom tree was still standing there and it finally didn’t look out of place amidst the surrounding flowers and plants. Lin Rufei touched its branches and touched its only few remaining withered leaves before finally turning his gaze to Gu Yu resting in his arms.

There wasn’t much change to Gu Yu. Lin Rufei stared at it and then revealed a slight smile. He slowly drew his sword and the blade came out of the sheath with a humming sound. The snow-white blade projected a dappled light on the ground as Lin Rufei gently stroked the blade with his finger and slowly asked, “Are you there?”

No one answered.

“Xuandu?” Lin Rufei called out again.

There was still no response.

Lin Rufei frowned slightly and after thinking for a moment, he sighed and whispered, “Senior?”

The sword buzzed and actually responded to Lin Rufei’s call. Lin Rufei bit his lower lip in shame and chided in a low voice, “You’re still messing with me even at this time?”

Gu Yu didn’t listen.

Lin Rufei lifted his hand and gently touched Gu Yu to the cherry blossom tree. Very soon, a flickering glow emerged from above Gu Yu, heading towards the cherry blossom tree. When Lin Rufei saw this scene, he let out a heavy sigh of relief and murmured: “Fortunately I was able to bring you back, otherwise if Wu Ao had burned it all in a breath……..we would have been in big trouble.”

(t/n: He is referring to the cherry blossom tree because WA burned the whole grove at the foot of the mountain) 

The glowing fire fell onto the tiny cherry blossom tree and transformed into a budding flower bud. On its bare branches, it looked immensely abrupt. 

Lin Rufei touched the bud with his fingertips, and the bud trembled lightly, as if in response.

Lin Rufei looked at the flower bud’s soft and sweet look and couldn’t resist bending over and giving it a light kiss. The bud wasn’t cold, but actually slightly warm, just like the time Gu Xuandu had held Lin Rufei’s hand.

“Take your time, there’s no rush.” Lin Rufei said, “We still have a lot of time, we can wait slowly.” As he said this, he stroked the tree trunk again with a gentle smile in his tone, “Gu Xuandu, is it still satisfactory for you to hear when I called you ‘senior’ again?” 

When the Heavenly Ruler was Gu Xuandu’s master, naturally it was impossible to call Gu Xuandu ‘senior.’ Logically speaking, the sword spirits were also older than Gu Xuandu so they were called by their names. But in the end, when it came to Lin Rufei, Gu Xuandu ended up taking a big advantage from him. No wonder when he first called Gu Xuandu ‘senior,’ Gu Xuandu had a strange expression on his face. Now that he thought about it, he was probably being secretly delighted. 

But now Gu Xuandu’s soul was just a flower bud, Lin Rufei couldn’t do anything about it and could only spoil him. After pondering for a moment, he simply went back into the room and moved a bench over before sitting under the cherry blossom tree and dozing off.

The sun was out today amidst the clear and refreshing Autumn weather. Since it wasn’t too cold, Lin Rufei fell asleep in a daze. However, in this haze, he seemed to have felt a soft touch on his forehead but when he woke up again, he didn’t see anything, only a thick cloak on his body. Most likely Fu Hua and Yu Rui were afraid that he would catch a cold so they carefully layered it over him. 

It was getting a little dark, so Fu Hua called him to come in for a meal.

Lin Rufei stood up from the bench. He yawned, stretched lazily, and looked towards the cherry blossom bud, bidding it with a smile, “See you tomorrow.”

A breeze blew by and the cherry blossom tree swayed its branches, as if responding to Lin Rufei’s farewell……See you tomorrow.

Tomorrow was probably going to be a good day, Lin Rufei thought. When that time comes, he would take another nap by his beloved cherry blossom’s side. 

(t/n: Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn, cliffhanger??? (￣y▽,￣)╭ )

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[1] Congee